THE POSITION PAPER:
A position paper is not a book report. The worst possible strategy for your paper is to paraphrase the sections of the book and say it was wonderful. I understand the tendency to go there—it's what most of us did (including me) throughout high school and our undergraduate degree. But at the graduate level, we're expected to develop our critical thinking skills, not just report what we read.
The position paper must take a stand on something--advocate a position. You are going to "argue" a point for 5 or 6 pages. As it says in the guidelines, there should be a "thesis statement" in the introduction and you summarize how you demonstrated your thesis in the conclusion. It really is not practical to argue that the whole book is either good or bad; effective or not effective. It would take you a lot more than 6 pages to do that.
What does a thesis look like?? For the Kouzes & Posner book, here are some ideas: (They are just examples)
1. This paper will demonstrate how FBATR is not applicable in a law enforcement agency. (I'm not saying it is or isn't. You could argue either way--the point is, this kind of statement would make an interesting paper. Then you need to defend the statement with logic and other references--probably an article about bureaucracy would help.) Note: you don't even have to believe in your argument, for the purpose of learning, you could argue the opposite perspective of your own value system—and indeed, that is sometimes easier to do—as long as you support your argument with logic or with literature.
2. This paper will show how sharing power can undermine a leader's effectiveness in a prison work environment.
3. This paper supports the argument that fostering collaboration improves performance.
4. My thesis for this paper is to show that social capital is required for success in the Internet Age.
Pick out something that speaks to you from the text and make a case to either defend it, change it, or refute it. As mentioned in the SLG: "A position paper is a form of writing that is used to promote change or to support the status quo."
Resist the urge to simply paraphrase each section of the book!!! Outlining your key ideas will help you keep them organized. Another common mistake is to treat this as a "How to" paper—identifying several key ideas from the resource material and then discussion how they can be implemented. That's not a position paper either.
When you have completed the first two paragraphs, ask yourself if your thesis is clear. Can a reader tell what you are advocating for or against? Then do the same with the conclusion. Does it briefly summarize your argument and tell the reader that you have you have successfully demonstrated your case? In between, show lots of examples of why your argument is sound. Find three to five experts (through books or articles) that agree with you and cite the evidence in their work.
Whenever you make an assertion or a big generalization, be ready to back it up with logic or evidence from another source. As you read back over your paper and see sentences like, "Leaders today need.......," or "To be effective, organizations must.....," or "Trust is the single most important characteristic......" ask yourself "how do I know that?" And then make sure you've explained your thoughts behind the statement or you quote and expert. If your paper has a lot of these kind of generalities with no evidence, it's just a bunch of hot air!!! ....or it's like junk food. You've filled up the page, but there's little substance. At this point in our academic journey, we need substance.
Conclusion: Make a strong but brief closing statement summarizing how you defended your premise. Connect the dots for the reader to finalize your position.
CRITERIA FOR POSITION PAPER
Clear articulation of your position or thesis.
Well grounded argument, analysis and critical thinking.
Demonstration of an understanding of course concepts.
Effective writing style: clarity, good structure and organization, effective transitions.
Appropriate grammar/usage/APA Formatting